Most people would take a break after blockbuster like episode 275, but not these guys! Episode 276 is off the map! Darren leads things off by analyzing recent research on whether mice inherit fear from their parents. Next, Pat leads a festive edition of his trademark game Name That. Adam closes out the show by looking into the Salvation Army and some claims of offensive things that they’ve said.

I’ll also just take a moment to do a little “word policing”. Some of the Salvation Army’s actions were said to “attempt to infringe gay rights” or some similar verbiage. While this statement certainly accurately represents which side of the issue the Salvation Army is on, I’m not sure it’s the fairest description. Many of the things that are currently lumped into the category of “gay rights” aren’t really rights, even to those of us on the hetero side of things who have historically enjoyed preferential treatment. About the most one could say is that everyone should have a right to be treated equally by the government, but this falls apart almost instantly when you consider that I cannot get a grant for a woman-owned business. Owell nuff said!

Kind of splitting hairs. They aren’t trying to restrict gay people’s right to vote or free speech but they are very much, in examples I gave in the show, attempting to avoid having to treat them as equals to straight people. Is it “right” in the legal sense? I suppose not, but it is a “right” in the way people generally use the terms “gay rights”, “women’s rights” or whatever you want.

As for the women owned business grant, I’m not sure it’s totally fair to compare a system which exists to attempt to level an uneven playing field to one that attempts to continue to further marginalize a minority group which is already discriminated against, but I do understand the point you are trying to make. Not everything is a “right” and people are legally able to discriminate every day. It’s their “right” to be douche bags!